ABSTRACT
In 2004, in one in-service course for primary teachers of English, I discussed process writing as an approach to teach writing to young learners with the teachers. Process writing does not have a major role in the teaching of English in Hong Kong primary schools. Only until recent years was process writing proposed as a new strategy in recent curriculum reform (Curriculum Development Council, 2004, p. 197). In the Curriculum Guide, which advises teachers on the best teaching strategies, the central writing activities included are copying, controlled writing, guided writing, and independent writing. The peripheral role of process writing as an approach in Hong Kong can be noted when it is put under the section of “other considerations for the development of writing skills.” (Curriculum Development Council, 2004, p. 155) Process writing that involves brainstorming on a topic, drafting, revising, editing, and then publishing one’s work is not a common practice in the Hong Kong English as a second language (ESL) classroom in which writing is often treated as a product by itself and is independent of the writing process. And teachers sometimes hold great reservations against this approach. First, they are not confident that students can brainstorm a topic in English and secondly, they have reservations about students’ ability to self-correct and revise.
